Saturday, December 20, 2008

MTV and a video camera company called Flip have been hard at work to create a totally user-created broadcast on MTV, made by all kinds of young people around the nation.

The Flip is a simple hand-held camera with razor sharp pictures, built in software interface, and microphone and a customizable design, and is incredibly easy to use. By partnering with MTV, all content created ends up on a special MTV program and is posted MTV online as well.

To get started, 100 people were given free Flips. Users created the content and sent it in and a totally user-created media is now up and running. And media outlets across the nation are giving rave reviews to the whole idea, from The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Entertainment Tonight, USA Today, The Washington Post, Business Week, Times, Forbes, PC World and more.

The MTV site also has details on how you can watch the videos and grab your own free Flip too.

It's all up to the video makers to decide what to create and share, and as MTV says "Different themes guided them, some were open-ended, others were scavenger hunts and others were questions only they could answer. "

Some of the categories folks are using to make their short videos include:

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee is learning that jumping up to shout "I can fix the automakers bailout program!!" was not his best idea. Especially that part of his plan calling for altering the pay scales for workers -- as has been noted, that idea for controlling wages was never a part of the banking bailout.

"No, I’m not talking about Bob Corker, the Senator from Nissan — I mean Tennessee — and his fellow Republicans, who torpedoed last week’s attempt to buy some time for the U.S. auto industry. (Why was the plan blocked? An e-mail message circulated among Senate Republicans declared that denying the auto industry a loan was an opportunity for Republicans to “take their first shot against organized labor.”)"Ouch!

"We should never have entered into discussions with Sen. Corker, but we did because of the importance of what was going on here," Gettelfinger said. "And it failed. And it's not because we didn't have a tentative agreement. It's because" Corker "could not deliver at the end of the day."Next up - I'm waiting for the ads to start running which show a picture of Sen. Corker with the caption "Would you buy a used car from this man?"From the Washington Post, some folks in Spring Hill say:

"Our pay is nothing like what people say it is on the news," said Barbara Walker, who works at the plant, as does her husband. "I think Bob Corker stinks, I really do. I even sent an e-mail to him. He never responded to me at all."

"What Bob Corker is is a union buster, plain and simple," said Brian Kerr, 46, who has worked 28 years for GM. "We set the wage rates for the other plants in the state. Without us, they will be making $10 an hour."

He uttered a vulgarity and said "that's the nicest word I can use about him."

"Anyone who calls himself an American and wants to get rid of American jobs isn't worth much in my book," said Tim Kinjorski, 50, a plant worker. "He's been blinded by his own hatred of the unions."

Odd too that while southern states dole out billions to "help" car makers decide to locate in the South, southern reps in congress say no to aiding U.S. auto makers in financial turmoil, no matter the long-term economic costs. This list via Facing Southshows these lures have been worth nearly $4 billion.

UPDATE:

I need to add here I have no sympathy for the car industry since for the last 30 years they have steered far, far away from alternative fuel vehicles despite the demand from consumers and the inevitable costs of dependency on foreign providers for oil.

Whatever fate may or may not be deserved by such refusals, another massive industrial and economic collapse is rapidly approaching an already deeply wounded nation. It seems we are poised to provide not only billions to foreign nations for fuel, but billions more for the very machines which use that fuel.